Major constituents of the extracts from five green vegetables (broccoli, cabbage, spinach, brussels sprouts, kale), several of which are members of the genus Brassica (Cruciferous), have been separated by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) on a C-18 reversed-phase column. Three classes of compounds were shown to be present. In the order of chromatographic elution, these were xanthophylls, chlorophylls and their derivatives, and the hydrocarbon carotenoids (carotenes). The xanthophylls were identified as neoxanthin, violaxanthin, lutein epoxide, and lutein. Several mono cis isomers of xanthophylls were also shown to be present in the extracts from these vegetables. The chlorophylls were identified as chlorophylls b and a and their decomposition products pheophytins b and a. The only hydrocarbon carotenoids present in these vegetables were all-trans-ß-caiotene and its 15,15'-cis isomer. j3-Apo-8'-carotenal and decapreno-/3-carotene have been employed respectively as internal standards for quantification of xanthophylls and carotenes. The effect of cooking on the qualitative and quantitative distribution of carotenoids in some of the vegetables has been discussed.

Abstract. We investigated the potential of red algae cultivated with deep-sea water (D) as dietary anti-oxidants to ameliorate the redox levels in the main organs and in bone metabolism using SAMP1 and its control SAMR1, in comparison with the same algae cultivated with surface seawater. Only the D group showed marked increases of glutathione (GSH) levels in the liver (R1, 134%) and brain (R1, 128% and P1, 126%) as well as activities of GSH non-dependent peroxidase in the liver (R1, 138%) and the brain (R1, 117% and P1, 112%) but not GSH-dependent peroxidase. The D diet also exhibited beneficial effects on bone metabolism; elevations of femoral calcium, phosphorus, hydroxyproline for collagen, hexosamine for polysaccharides, and suppression of urinary excretion of hydroxyproline as an index of increased bone resorption. A three-point bending test showed that the D diet increased the stiffness and the strength of the femur, which correlated with increases in femoral calcium and phosphorus contents. The results suggest that red algae of the Gracilaria sp. cultivated with deep-sea water has the potential to ameliorate degenerative diseases of aging. D

Two new polycyclic guanidine alkaloids, crambescidin 826 (1) and dehydrocrambine A (2), and the known compounds crambescidin 800 (3) and fromiamycalin (4) were isolated from the marine sponge Monanchora sp. The structures of 1 and 2 were elucidated by 2D NMR and mass spectrometry, and relative stereochemistry was established by analysis of coupling constants and ROESY spectra. The pentacyclic guanidine alkaloids 1, 3, and 4 inhibit HIV-1 envelope-mediated fusion in vitro with IC(50)'s of 1-3 microM, while compound 2, a tricyclic guanidine alkaloid, showed weaker inhibition, with an IC(50) of approximately 35 microM.